Evgeni Platov

Evgeni Arkadievich Platov (Russian: Евгений Аркадьевич Платов; born August 7, 1967) is a Russian former competitive ice dancer. He is best known for his partnership with Oksana Grishuk from 1989–1998. With Grishuk, he is a two-time Olympic champion (1994, 1998), four-time World champion (1994–1997), and three-time European champion (1996–1998).

Evgeni Platov
Grishuk and Platov at the 1994 European Championships in Copenhagen
Personal information
Full nameEvgeni[1][2][3] Arkadievich Platov
Alternative namesEvgeny[4] Platov
Yevgeny[5] Platov
Former country(ies) represented Russia
 CIS
 Soviet Union
Born (1967-08-07) August 7, 1967
Odessa, Ukrainian SSR, Soviet Union
Height1.83 m (6 ft 0 in)
Former partnerOksana Grishuk, Larisa Fedorinova, Elena Krykanova, Maya Usova
Former coachTatiana Tarasova, Natalia Linichuk, Gennadi Karponosov, Natalia Dubova
Skating clubArmy Sports Club, Odessa
RetiredMarch 1998

With previous partner Elena Krykanova, he was a three-time World Junior champion (1984–1986). During his career, he represented the Soviet Union, the Unified Team, and Russia. Since retiring from competition, he works as a figure skating coach and choreographer.

Personal life

Platov was born on August 7, 1967 in Odessa, Ukrainian SSR, Soviet Union.[5] He lived in Odessa until his move to Moscow, Russian SFSR, in 1982.[6] He married Maria Anikanova, a Russian figure skater and later actress, but they eventually divorced.[7]

Platov settled in New Jersey in 1998.[8]

Platov coaches at Palm Beach Ice Works, West Palm Beach, Florida. [9]

Early career

Platov switched from singles to ice dancing in October 1976.[6] Boris Rublev arranged his first partnership and then paired him with Elena Krykanova a couple of months later.[6] The two were coached by Rublev in Odessa until 1982 when they moved to Moscow to train under Natalia Dubova.[6] Krykanova/Platov won three World Junior titles from 1984 to 1986.[3]

Platov began competing on the senior level with Larisa Fedorinova in 1987. In 1988, they won gold at the Karl Schäfer Memorial and silver at the Prize of Moscow News. Their partnership ended in August 1989.[6]

Partnership with Grishuk

Dubova paired Platov with Oksana Grishuk in September 1989.[6] They trained in Moscow.[10] Three months later, in December 1989, they won the bronze medal at the Soviet Championships. They were fifth in their World Championship debut in 1990. Their first European and World medals, both bronze, came at the 1992 European Championships and 1992 World Championships.

In mid-1992, due to tensions between Grishuk and Maya Usova and their alleged love rivalry over Maya's then-husband and partner Alexander Zhulin [11], Dubova allegedly expelled Grishuk from her group[10] or Grishuk chose to leave.[12] Dubova found a new partner for Platov (the then teenage future Olympic champion Tatiana Navka [13]) while Grishuk briefly searched for a new partner in Germany before returning to Moscow and her previous coach, Natalia Linichuk.[10] Platov decided not to follow Dubova and re-teamed with Grishuk in the fall of 1992.[10]

During the 1992–93 season, Grishuk/Platov won European and World silver medals. In 1993–94, they won silver at the European Championships. They won their first Olympic title at the 1994 Olympics.[14] They ended the season with their first World title at the 1994 World Championships. They then left Russia and moved with Linichuk to Newark, Delaware for better training and living conditions.[12]

Grishuk/Platov missed most of 1994–95 due to injury but returned to win the 1995 World Championships. They had a full season in 1995–96 and won another set of European and World titles.

In 1996, Grishuk/Platov split from Linichuk and moved to Tatiana Tarasova in Marlborough, Massachusetts.[12] Injury kept them out of competition in the first half of the 1996–97 season but they returned to win their second European and fourth World title. In September 1997, she changed her first name to Pasha after being repeatedly confused with Oksana Baiul,[12] but later went back to Oksana. In 1997–98, Grishuk/Platov won their third European Championships. At the event, they were slashed in a practice collision with Anjelika Krylova / Oleg Ovsiannikov but were not seriously hurt and both teams said it was an accident.[15] Grishuk/Platov competed at their third Olympics in 1998 in Nagano, where they became the first ice dancers to repeat as gold medalists.[12][16]

Grishuk/Platov won 20 consecutive competitions from 1994 to 1998.[12] They were entered in the Guinness Book of World Records in 1998 for becoming the first team in the history of ice dancing to win Olympic gold twice. (Since 1998, the Canadian team of Virtue and Moir have also won the Olympic gold medal in ice dancing twice, 2010 and 2018.) Grishuk and Platov combined speed and difficult elements, and displayed their mastery of numerous styles of dance.[12][17] On their partnership, Platov said in 1998: "It's like being a husband and a wife. Sometimes, you fight. Sometimes, you walk away and calm down. I met her a long time ago, and I still remember her as a little girl on the ice. She was so little. So active. Usually, little girls are boring. But that girl. Oh, there was a fire on ice."[15] He also said: "It's hard to change her mind. She fights every step. But it works out. That's why she is so good."[12]

Grishuk/Platov retired from competition and did not compete at the 1998 World Championships. They skated together in shows until the summer of 1998. Platov then decided to skate with their former rival Maya Usova and Grishuk teamed up with Alexander Zhulin.

Grishuk/Platov skated together at a Russian ice show in 2006.[8] They also skated together in February 2008 in Nagano, Japan for their ten-year anniversary of winning the 1998 Olympic gold medal.

Coaching career

Platov was an assistant coach to his own former coach Tatiana Tarasova from 2002–2004, along with Maya Usova, at the International Skating Center of Connecticut in Simsbury, Connecticut. He helped coach Olympic Champion Shizuka Arakawa to her only world title in 2004 and briefly worked with Sasha Cohen and Johnny Weir under the guidance of Tarasova.

In the fall of 2005, Platov moved to New Jersey and became the assistant coach to his former rival, Alexander Zhulin, helping to coach the ice dancing team of Tatiana Navka and Roman Kostomarov to European and Olympic gold medals. He started coaching on his own when Zhulin left New Jersey to go back to Russia. His current and former students include:[18]

Platov formerly coached at the Princeton Sports Center in Monmouth Junction, New Jersey.[8] In mid-2009, he began coaching at the Igloo ice rink in Mount Laurel, New Jersey.[22][23]

In 2017, Platov worked alongside award-winning ice director Tony Mercer, to coach the world-famous Imperial Ice Stars for Cinderella on Ice.[24]

Programs

With Grishuk
Season Original dance Free dance Exhibition
1997–98
  • Frozen
    by Madonna
  • You'll See
    by Madonna
1996–97
  • You'll See
    by Madonna
1995–96
  • Muchachita
    by Perez Prado
  • Mambo Jambo
    (a.k.a. Que Rico El Mambo)
    by Perez Prado
  • Bogota
    by Gil Ventura
1994–95
  • Girls Girls Girls
1993–94
  • Historia de um Amor
  • Swing the Mood by Jivebunny & the Mastermixers
1992–93
  • Aquarell
  • Aquarell
  • Viennese Waltz
1991–92
  • Polka
1990–91
  • Blues Blue

by K.Schneider
1989–90

With Usova
Season Programs[25][26][27]
2000–01
1999–2000
  • Copa de la Vida
  • Historia de un Amor
1998–99
  • When You Came Into My Life

Results

GP: Champions Series (Grand Prix)

With Grishuk
International[28]
Event 89–90
(URS)		 90–91
(URS)		 91–92
(URS/CIS)		 92–93
(RUS)		 93–94
(RUS)		 94–95
(RUS)		 95–96
(RUS)		 96–97
(RUS)		 97–98
(RUS)
Olympics4th1st1st
Worlds5th4th3rd2nd1st1st1st1st
Europeans5th5th3rd2nd2nd1st1st1st
GP Final1st1st
GP TDF / Lalique1st1st
GP NHK Trophy1st
GP Skate America1st
Centennial On Ice1st
NHK Trophy2nd2nd1st
National[28]
Russian Champ.1st1st
Soviet Champ.3rd2nd1st
WD: Withdrew

With Fedorinova
International
Event 1986–87 1987–88 1988–89
World Championships6th
International de Paris4th
Karl Schäfer Memorial1st
Novarat Trophy3rd
Prize of Moscow News2nd
National
Soviet Championships4th4th

With Krykanova
Event 1983–84 1984–85 1985–86
World Junior Championship1st1st1st
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References
  1. Penny Coomes / Nicholas Buckland at the International Skating Union
  2. Sinead Kerr / John Kerr at the International Skating Union
  3. "World Junior Figure Skating Championships: Ice Dance" (PDF). International Skating Union. Archived from the original (PDF) on 4 October 2013.
  4. Mittan, J. Barry (October 8, 2009). "Reed Joins Japaridze to Compete for Georgia". Skate Today. Archived from the original on July 9, 2019.
  5. "Yevgeny Platov". sports Reference. Archived from the original on 2011-04-21.
  6. Simonenko, Andrei (November 12, 2013). "Евгений Платов: всю жизнь стремился к тому, чтобы стать чемпионом" [Evgeni Platov: I worked my whole life to be a champion]. rsport.ru (in Russian). Archived from the original on May 7, 2016.
  7. Diachkova, Natalia. Мария Аниканова: «Не могу быть в одиночестве» [Maria Anikanova: "I cannot be single"]. 7days.ru (in Russian). Retrieved March 2, 2012.
  8. Elfman, Lois (May 29, 2008). "Behind the scenes of figure skating - May 29". Icenetwork.
  9. https://pbiw.org/figure-skating/coach/evgeny-platov>
  10. Hersh, Phil (February 22, 1994). "Love Triangle (plus 1) Tops Torvill And Dean". The Chicago Tribune. Retrieved September 9, 2011.
  11. Cain, Áine. "The 9 biggest rivalries the Olympics has ever seen". Business Insider. Retrieved 2020-05-16.
  12. Longman, Jere (January 2, 1998). "SKATING; Dancing on the Sharp Edge of Her Skates". The New York Times. Retrieved 2009-05-22.
  13. "A new beginning Again". A new beginning Again. Retrieved 2020-05-16.
  14. Harvey, Randy (February 22, 1994). "'94 WINTER LILLEHAMMER OLYMPICS : Torvill and Dean Must Face Music as Russians Win : Ice dancing: British routine doesn't go over with judges. Gritschuk and Platov get gold". Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on December 24, 2011.
  15. Glauber, Bill (February 12, 1998). "Grishuk, fire on and off ice, dances to own beat in Games; Never a dull moment in Russian's career as she, Platov pursue gold". Baltimore Sun. Archived from the original on December 24, 2011.
  16. Frey, Jennifer (February 16, 1998). "Basic Instinct for the Gold, and an Oscar". Washington Post. Archived from the original on March 4, 2016.
  17. "Olympic Insider". TIME. February 16, 1998. Archived from the original on January 29, 2011.
  18. "Oksana Grishuk & Evgeny Platov". IceNetwork.com.
  19. Galit Chait / Sergei Sakhnovski at the International Skating Union
  20. Alexandra Zaretsky / Roman Zaretsky at the International Skating Union
  21. Yaneva, Veneta (June 13, 2014). "Evgeni Platov: "My couples have a unique look"". Absolute Skating.
  22. Rutherford, Lynn (August 17, 2009). "No kilts for Kerrs on road to Vancouver". Icenetwork.
  23. Dobias, Jen (July 20, 2012). "Gold medalist Evgeny Platov trains hopefuls in South Jersey". Courier-Post. Archived from the original on February 8, 2013.
  24. Studios, Nkosana & Tshepiso for FGX. "Artslink.co.za - Cinderella is NOW on Ice at the Teatro". Artslink. Retrieved 2018-06-01.
  25. "Skate Music List". Archived from the original on 2012-04-02. Retrieved 2011-09-11.
  26. World Professional Figure Skating Championships – Landover, MD
  27. Japan Open
  28. "GRISHUK Pasha / PLATOV Evgeny". International Skating Union. Archived from the original on May 7, 2016.
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